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Candies and Candy Making: Fondant

Sprinkle the flavoring over the surface in the process of creaming and it will be thoroughly worked into the mass by kneading. - To Roll Fondant. - Cut off as many pounds of fondant, at least 24 hours old, as you need to make candy. Measure½ teaspoonful of flavoring extract or less to each pound of candy and add to the flavoring extract 1 drop of the appropriate coloring matter. Roll the fondant out thin on the slab, sprinkle the coloring matter over it and thoroughly incorporate it by kneading, the same as when working over bread. Have ready prepared sheets of waxed paper. And have at hand nuts, fruit, or decorations for the candies you are about to make. Cut the fondant into small pieces and roll into the desired shape with the fingers or palms. If fruit or nuts are to be used, add them at once while the cream is moist. Or if the centers are to be dipped, set them in order on waxed paper and let stand twentyfour hours more to harden. To Dip Fondant. - If the chocolate for dipping fondants becomes too thick, add to it a little cocoanut oil.

This is the natural oil of chocolate, and is, hence, the most appropriate substance with which to thin it. Do not attempt to thin it with hot water, as it will immediately cause the chocolate to grain.

Or use fresh, unsalted butter or olive oil. To dip the centers, use a slender two-tined fork, turn the conical point of the chocolate to the right, downward, dip under in a half circle, remove it point first and hold it upright over the chocolate for a moment or two to drip. Then set it down gently on the waxed paper.

Add nuts, fruit, or decorations, if any, while the chocolate is still damp.

Dip bonbons in the same manner.

To Cream Fondant. - When the sirup is done set it away from the fire and let it stand until about lukewarm. Now commence to stir with a wooden paddle. Commence to stir round and round, always in the same direction; keep the sirup away from the sides of the kettle so that it will not grain or form in lumps. Presently the edges will commence to show white and dry. The mass must now be laid on a marble slab or a kneading board, which may be dusted with fine flour, cornstarch, or Confectioners' XXX sugar, and kneaded with the hands in the same manner as bread dough until it is of a uniform soft and creamy consistency. Place the mass of fondant if not required for use in an earthenware bowl and cover it with several folds of a cloth wrung out so as to be moist but not wet. It may thus be kept for a number of days, and will only require to be warmed at the fire or by CANDIES AND CANDY MAKING setting the bowl in a vessel of boiling water or on a hot soapstone, or on two or three common bricks previously heated in the oven, to be ready for immediate use. Any remnant of the fondant which becomes hard and dry, or a batch of fondant which has been cooked too much, may be softened with hot water and reboiled to the proper degree.

Confectioners' Fondant. -The following recipe is that of a professional confectioner, and the full quantities are given for the benefit of dealers in candy, grocers, or persons desiring to make candy in large quantities for sale at a fair, church bazaar, or otherwise. The quantity of candy here described will require a large kneading board or vat with low sides; but any smooth surface, as a clean kitchen table, will answer. As the mass will be too large to be worked with the hands it is better to take a small garden hoe with a short handle, which should, of course, be scoured clean for the purpose.

Boil down 20 pounds of fine granulated sugar with 2½ quarts of water to the stiff ball. Remove from the fire and sprinkle on top 6 pounds of glucose, but do not stir it in. Set back on the fire and let it boil until the scum boils in.

Note that the glucose must not be added until the sugar is boiled to the hard ball, and must not be stirred, but allowed to boil in of itself. Dust the vat or molding board with Confectioners' XXX sugar, pour out the mass on this as soon as the scum has boiled in, and let it cool until you can lay your hand on it. But it is better to begin a little sooner than to let it get too cold. Take two short garden hoes or cream scrapers, work it flat and sprinkle over it rather less than pint of glycerin. Cream thoroughly with the hoes or scrapers, and let stand over night before using.

When this fondant is first made it will be rather rough and coarse in texture, but standing twelve hours or more will give it a uniform fine texture and it improves with age, never graining or turning stale. If this recipe is carefully followed, a fine quality of cream for chocolate drops, cream candies, and other fondants can be made at a very satisfactory profit.

Fondant without Glucose. - Boil rapidly over a quick fire to the softball degree 6 cupfuls of fine granulated sugar, 2 cupfuls of water, and + teaspoonful of cream of tartar.

Or 3 pounds of granulated sugar, 1 pint of water, and teaspoonful of cream of tartar. The addition of cream of tartar prevents the sirup from graining. Remove from the fire as soon as done, let the mass cool until lukewarm, and proceed as before.

Chocolate Fondant. - Instead of pure melted chocolate, a fondant containing 2 tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate to each pound of cream may be used. Place in a bowl, set in a vessel of hot water, 2 tablespoonfuls of chocolate and when melted add a cupful of clarified sirup and 1 pound of melted fondant. Stir and mix well. In this chocolate fondant dip the hearts or centers of creams or bonbons by transfixing them with a fork or hatpin and dropping them on waxed or buttered paper or sheets of tin to harden. Fruits, as cherries, figs, and the like, are very delicious coated in this way, or mixed nuts dipped and rolled with French cream and thus coated are also excellent. an Bonbon Fondant. - Prepare any ordinary fondant, but cream it with a wooden paddle, and do not knead it as for ordinary fondant. Let it stand twenty-four hours or more in earthenware bowl covered with several thicknesses of wet cloth. To dip bonbons heat the fondant by setting it on a soapstone or in a pan of hot water over the stove and stirring constantly, but do not allow it to boil.

A double boiler may be used for this purpose. Dip the centers by transfixing them with a fork or hatpin, and set them to cool on sheets of waxed paper. This recipe is suitable for all sorts of nuts, fruits, and other sweetmeat centers. The fondant may be tinted or colored as desired.

Uncooked Fondant. - Beat up the white of egg and mix with the same amount of water by bulk in an earthenware bowl. Whip in Confectioners' XXX sugar to a stiff paste, which will stand when molded with the fingers to any desired shape. Flavor and tint as desired. After molding let the pieces stand several hours to harden, but make up no more fondant than is required for immediate use, as it soon hardens. This fondant may be used as centers for chocolate creams, or for nut or fruit sweetmeats in place of any of the cooked fondants as desired.